Sogo & Seibu Co.’s Seibu department store in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward closed its doors Wednesday, ending its 58-year history. Despite the rain, many customers visited to bid farewell to the department store that has long been one of the symbols of Shibuya’s shopping and entertainment district. The store played a leading role in the country’s youth culture, helping spark the “DC brand” boom, a craze for designer labels, in the 1980s.
In recent years, however, it saw its revenue deteriorate mainly due to competition with newer commercial facilities in the area and with online shopping amid rapidly changing consumer needs. Reminiscing about a time when the store was at the forefront of cultural trends, a man in his 60s from Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture said that the establishment “made a significant contribution to culture.” “We’re truly thankful that we were able to operate with the support of so many people, while sharing our history with Shibuya,” Kiyoshi Kobayashi, the store’s manager, said.
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